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After some unexpected results in 2017, the latest survey of FX traders conducted by JP Morgan reveals a level of enthusiasm for mobile trading that more accurately reflects what we have seen in the field over the last number of years.

JP Morgan has been in the vanguard of mobile FX trading. In that context, the findings of its 2017 survey – most notably, that fewer than one in three (31%) of FX traders were likely to use a mobile trading app – were surprising, particularly when stacked up against feedback from our inaugural FX survey.

Our research underlined the fact that retail banking is far ahead of corporate and institutional banking in terms of using mobile app trading services to reduce the burden on hard-pressed sales teams, with most banks citing regulatory and compliance issues as the major obstacle to the adoption of the technology.

However, the survey showed that the buy-side wants to go mobile and that the sell-side may be underestimating this appetite. We found that while most buy-side firms believed market participants were already demanding the ability to view and manage orders on their mobile, the majority of sell-side firms believed that demand would not reach this level for a number of years.

Data from JP Morgan’s 2018 survey is more in line with our experience, with the number of traders expecting to use a mobile trading app more than doubling over the last 12 months. Almost two thirds (61%) now say they are either ‘extremely likely’ or ‘somewhat likely’ to use a mobile trading app this year. This figure is significant given that 34% of the traders surveyed said their company policy prevents any mobile use.

Much is made of the perceived security and compliance concerns of mobile trading, but the reality is that trading through a phone app and trading remotely on a laptop are no different from a security perspective. Indeed, security and compliance concerns have forced mobile trading solutions to be even more secure.

The effective implementation of mobile management systems requires mobile users in most firms to use secure passcodes to access their phones and secure login to an app using two-factor authentication provides additional assurance. Misplaced devices can be remotely wiped and mechanisms such as authentication patterns at the point of execution have largely eliminated unauthorised trading and errors.

The key feature of mobile trading is undoubtedly usability – clients that prioritise advanced features and extremely competitive pricing are more likely to be drawn to multi-dealer channels or complex desktop offerings.

The mobile experience is much more about making trading easy and convenient and building brand loyalty with corporate clients. Native notifications are also useful, helping clients stay on top of their positions and reducing the need for bank sales teams to call clients to let them know their orders have filled.

Caplin Systems has published a new white paper entitled Trading On The Move, which examines the growing demand for, and use of mobile devices in the capital markets.

The paper authored by Patrick Myles, Caplin CTO explores the mobile revolution and looks at how it is being applied to the capital markets.

Drawing on results from a recent Caplin Systems e-Trading survey, the paper identifies current supply-demand imbalances between what the buy-side say they want, and what the sell-side think their clients want, compared to what they currently provide to clients.

Top tier banks have been offering mobile solutions to their institutional clients for a while now, ranging from research and indicative pricing, through to enabling clients to manage existing and in some cases placing new orders. With early compliance and security concerns having been addressed, banks such as Citi and JP Morgan are providing full mobile click and trade functionality.

But what about regional banks, what is their attitude towards mobile trading for corporate customers?

If you haven’t seen it yet, there is an updated internet trends presentation on the KPCB website.

IMHO, most interesting is the chart of internet traffic in India (page 16), where mobile is now the predominant internet access method. The infrastructure costs of a wireless vs wired distribution favour wireless. If the relative cost savings are passed on this will promote mobile internet access and increased demand for functionally rich smartphones to facilitate that access. So the observed trend towards mobile access will continue, not just for India but for all countries where wireless is cheaper/easier to access.

And what are the actual mobiles being used? StatCounter has the stats – as per the following chart. Nokia is still very popular as in Africa but using Series 40 phones and the Nokia browser but the chart shows that Android market share is increasing.

Compare this to the results in China, where the predominant mobile OS is Android. And then look at the Android growth in the original KPCB presentation on page 10 – growth is nearly 6 times that of the iPhone! If the unit cost of Android smartphones remains lower than the iPhone, I expect this trend to remain not just for China but for many other geographies which is why the global trend towards Android phones will continue – have a look at StatCounter for the figures. From a software development perspective delivering solutions to many different platforms/operating systems, one more reason to deliver native web apps.

With the launch last week of a slew of products from Microsoft including Windows 8, Windows 8 RT and the Surface tablet, my colleague Steven South posted (on Caplin’s Platformability technical blog) what could be the start of an interesting discussion about the relevance of these announcements to HTML5 web trading apps.

There has been an abundant amount of articles published recently about the trend toward mobile computing. The drivers for this have been primarily the phenomenal adoption rate of products such as the Apple iPad. But the iPad is not the only reason for fueling this trend. A “perfect storm” has been brewing for some time now that melds together several technology growth trends.

Trend #1 Adoption Rate of Mobile Devices

November 2011 has been a very busy month for Caplin’s marketing team. The company exhibited its single-dealer platform technology at four tradeshows on three continents and also attended an awards dinner and a networking event in London and a tradeshow in Madrid.

November 1st saw Caplin’s Asia sales team in Shanghai for the Chinamoney e-Trading Conference, presented by the China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS) held at the Shanghai Marriott Hotel. This was probably the most complex as it involved translating both our brochures and our software into Chinese. As you can see below, Caplin established a presence at the show and some excellent contacts were made.